Project 4 - Locked Steering Column

This was the most time intensive project to date, and also the project that made me realize more than ever, how much harder it is to fix something that someone already tried to fix.

I was driving to my mentor's house when my steering wheel began to lock. At first, I could jiggle it and get it to turn, but by the time I was at his house, it was completely locked in place. This was not a project that could be put off for later, so I shelved my plans to fix the heat exchanger, and started on this.

It was a day long process so I'll note the highlights of what I did:

1. Removed the horn and steering wheel.2. Saw that someone had previously drilled out the key housing. They also drilled past the key housing, to the spring that holds the lock cylinder in place. This meant that as the car vibrated, the lock cylinder had slipped into place, locking the steering wheel permanently.3. Detached all wires.4. Removed ignition switch housing.5. Broke the tab that holds the ignition switch housing in place.6. Dismantled the remainder of the steering column lock assembly, pulling out the spring and lock cylinder.7. Welded the tab back on and reassembled the system. 🙌